The prior art of fluid driven washing brushes teaches rotary action, vibratory action, and reciprocating action, as well as soap dispensing and combinations thereof. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,417,826 (Floros), 3,932,909 (Johnson), 4,189,801 (Lanusse), and 3,283,352 (Hu) exemplify varying forms of rotatably brushes. The patents to Floros and Johnson also include soap dispensing devices. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,471,503 (Smyth), 4,458,676 (Pileggi), and 2,905,171 (De Crescenzo) exemplify varying forms of vibrating brushes. U.S. Pat. No. 3,443,271 (Lyons) discloses a reciprocating brush.
The above-identified prior art patents teaching fluid driven washing brushes have, however, several disadvantages. The rotary brushes, while having good scrubbing action, can become entangled with body hair, while in use. Also, the rotary brushes consume an excessive amount of fluid per stroke in their operating mode relative to the present invention. The vibratory brushes, while less likely to entangle with body hair, do not have as effective scrubbing action. Although the reciprocating brushes are less likely to entangle with body hair and have good scrubbing action, they produce an irritating linear scrubbing motion.